Improve the facilities available for families at UK airports

With nearly a third of families stating that their holiday ‘officially’ starts at the airport, luxury villa holidays specialists, Oliver’s Travels, has uncovered that families across the country are currently not satisfied with the standard of facilities available to them at UK airports.

In a bid to improve the travelling experience for families, we are launching a campaign and official petition to encourage UK airports to better cater to the needs of families.

Thanks to our extensive research to our database of travellers, coupled with a national research project with Censuswide, we have revealed that over a third of families feel like airports across the UK don’t do enough to cater for them and their children.

Shockingly, families with young children, of all other airport travellers including business, solo and couples, feel like they are the group least considered by airports when it comes to facilities, with 9 out of 10 parents voicing their concerns.

When asked about the facilities that are needed, 95% of parents think that a dedicated family lounge would improve their experience at UK airports, with 91% of them stating that an improved airport experience would make their overall holiday more enjoyable – reinforcing the important role airports play in getting a holiday off to the best start.

The airport is the first stage for families beginning their holiday experience. We want to ensure that families have the best overall holiday experience and this research clearly shows that airports play an integral role in making that happen, with families nationwide reinforcing that it impacts on the overall enjoyment of their holiday.

We want to work collectively with the wider travel industry to improve and develop the family travel offering and experience, from families leaving their house to arriving at their chosen villa.

Of those surveyed, the call for a dedicated family lounge to be implemented across UK airports was evident, with 3 out of 4 families also stating they’d be willing to pay up to £45 per family for entry. Some of the key features that families are crying out for with a dedicated family lounge include:

a soft play area (45%);

more family seating available (30%);

an area for parents to relax while children play (29%);

a film zone playing children's movies (27%);

a napping zone for children and/or adults (16%);

a kitchenette to heat up or prepare food;

an interactive educational area about airports and aeroplanes.

If you’d like to see UK airports do more for families, sign this petition and help get more airports to consider implementing these important changes across the UK.